Well there has been an eerie silence for the past 10 days, no movement from either party....until yesterday.
The last volley in our tussle was a cracking cross court overhead smash, delivered with real gusto and venom from our solicitor, deep into the corner just within their sideline.
Nothing has been returned over the net thus far, but we cannot presume that the shot was a clear winner.....sometimes they take the pace off the ball with a sly backspin overhead lob, we are still waiting.
The much larger rental invoice for February, which itemised and included the new market rates was issued on Jan 20th, and due for payment no later than the 1st of Feb.
Obviously with that falling on a Sunday, they must make the funds available prior to that. None of this "we'll pay it Monday nonsense". They left it to the very last minute, with the entry going in late yesterday afternoon.
Unfortunately they have played silly buggers with us, and made the payment figure some oddball number that bears no resemblance to anything we invoiced them. It was less than normal, and equivalent to the lowly market rates attainable more than 2 years ago. They must think they are playing with a bunny.
I tried to back calculate where they pulled that strange number. It was broken down into 4 components. The nett rental for the office space, the nett rental for the carbays, GST on both them, and an electricity bill issued from the strata company.
Whichever way I worked it, the number paid was even less than what they would have owed us if we had no review at all. That is, they've taken it upon themsleves to simply ignore our lawyers letter, ignore our invoice, and just start making it up as they go along. Situation normal for a Tenant when they disagree in my experience.
Fortunately, the Lease wording is all our way, and we have the right to charge the invoiced amount even though they have not agreed or assented to the review. They are forced to pay it. "Until the final Rent from the Market Rent Review date is determined, the Tenant shall pay to the Landlord the Proposed Rent sent to the Tenant in the Notice." Lovely. Bit like what the SRO does to investors when they hand you a high land tax bill. You can argue all you want, but you must still pay it.
So - what's our recourse, cos they are attempting to play silly buggers with us ?? Always gotta have a big sledgehammer. That's why we left houses. Landlord doesn't have a sledgehammer.
Well, first off, on Monday morning we are going to extract the differential between what they were invoiced and what they paid, directly from their bank guarantee. There is over 200K of their money sitting in our account (has been for the past 18 months earning us interest), available to be ripped out of that special account and straight into our normal account. No Tenant's signature or Govt dept involved. It's a proper bond, which actually gives surety to the Landlord, without having to beg the Tenant to consent.
Secondly, a further letter from our solicitor shall be sent to them notifying them of the following ;
1. The Bond has been ripped into for the unpaid amount.
2. The Bond must be replenished immediately back to the original level.
3. They are in breach of an essential part of the Lease.
4. A separate invoice for our solicitor's costs (which if remains unpaid will also be taken out of their bond).
5. Penalty interest on the unpaid amount shall be applied at horrendous %ages, as agreed in the Lease.
I would be over the moon if they crack the ****s and move out. It will mean that I will continue to receive rents for the next 10 years (increasing rents every year) for an empty box, without any wear and tear. The State Justice Dept is itching to move in, so I may be able to wangle a higher rent still off the WA Govt. Nice to see a bit of taxpayer money flowing in the right direction.
I cannot conceivably see a conglomeration of 20 separate superannuation funds, all based in the Eastern States, going bankrupt, so they probably won't....but we can always hope.
I'm almost positive that I'm safe cashflow-wise and the Tenant won't fall over. If they do, there will be a few million people up and down Vic / NSW / Qld who shall be hurting alot more than I, and the Fed Govt would likely step in to help them pay my rent bill.
Anyway, that's where I am at currently. Never a dull day being a Landlord.
Now, I'm off to play pool chasey with the kids.
